In light of recent blog traffic, I thought this was too funny.

I kind of hope Embarq comes and laughs at this... No seriously Embarq, I *heart* you!

*Picture Source: http://icanhascheezburger.com/page/17/

Wordless Wednesday: Things that made me happy today

Ralph Lauren Flip Flops










Classic Chloe

Yum...cookies.....

I can't help it...I love tanning

Mesh heart rings from Tiffany & Co.

Crazy but cuddly Casey

Steak night at my parent's house

Another Confession: My name is Ashley and I love Big Brother

Last night another season of Big Brother started. I missed the first 30 minutes because I had no idea that season 10 was starting. Anyways, so far so good. I love this show and I get hopelessly addicted.

Since I missed the first 30 minutes I went to the website tonight to check out the cast bios. I was glad to see a few Texans in there. :) One thing that did surprise me is how many of them credit graduating from college as there biggest accomplishment. Not to be rude, but come on people, graduating from college is not all that hard. Even if you did struggle to get through college, I think people should strive for something better to be their biggest accomplishment. I love school and I love academia, but I, by no means, want my education to be the thing I am most proud of. I hope that my legacy will be remembered for something great that I did or some contribution I made to help society. I would hate it if all people say about me when I'm gone was, well she was a good student.

So Big Brother House Guests, go out and do something good for the world. Don't let a college diploma be your accomplishment.

Hello my name is Ashley

And I am a TANorexic.

Hi Ashley.

Yes folks, I will admit it. I am addicted to tanning. Both indoors and outdoors.

I spent all of yesterday floating around the pool and baking my skin. And I went to lay out in the pool today but the stupid clouds were in my way.

Now I am going to have to get up early tomorrow to go to tan at the salon.

I have a problem.

Someone might have to intervene.

Things that are driving me crazy

1. Ant Infestations- never again will I live in a first floor apartment
2. Kyle Busch- that cocky kid wins too much
3. Summer School- I need a break... boo summer session II
4. Nothing being on TV
5. Clouds when I am trying to lay out
6. Cheesy Disney movies

Well that's my list for now.

Random Musings

I want to change the title of my blog... can I do that? Will blogher get mad?

I am wishing that my research proposal would finish itself... that's not going to happen is it?

I wish I could afford to buy a sewing machine.

I really want to (and need to) lay out this weekend... I hope it doesn't rain.

I wish I wasn't taking a class in summer session II.

How to make your cats freak out

I was watching a video over at Steece's Pieces and those adorable quad babies where crying in desperation for their bottles. My 2 cats came running over to the computer and they started pacing and meowing. Casey (my male cat) was totally freaking out. They obviously do not like the sound of crying babies. It was so funny to watch them freak out about the noise and try to figure out where it was coming from.

I guess this means that I will have to play more crying babies to desensitize them for when I have babies. I tell you, my cats get crazier and crazier.

But in all seriousness, go to Steece's Pieces and check out the cutest babies!

Don't post about your phone company

So apparently if you mention the name of your phone/DSL company on your own blog they will find out and leave you a comment about it. While Embarq_Jenny was perfectly nice, it still creeps me out. How the heck did they know that I mentioned them in a post and that I was somewhat dissatisfied with my service? It is very "big brother is watching"....really odd. So in the future don't mention your utilities companies in a blog post unless you are prepared for them to know about it.

Embarq_Jenny- Thank you for your concern my internet and phone service is up and running now. And as far as my appointment is concerned, no one ever called me. I had to figure it out on my own that I was back in business. But do not fear Embarq_Jenny, I will remain an Embarq customer because well I don't really have any other option and really I am not a dissatisfied customer. :-)

Now if the AT&T Home Entertainment people would like to get in contact with me through this blog, I certainly have something to say to them. Comment away AT&T.

How you make a room full of graduate students act like kids...

It is so funny what a room full of educators will find fun; give us some plastic bags, ice, salt, sugar, and milk and we will have a party. Tonight we made ice cream in 5 minutes in Ziploc bags. It was so much fun! I love it that a room of 28 well-educated people who are leaders in their field can enjoy "kid" activities!

You have to enjoy being a kid to work with kids. All teachers need is a creative activity that they get to have fun with and they can entertain themselves for hours.

Tonight sealed the deal, School of Ed is much more fun than Poly Sci :)

Blogging Hiatus

It seems as though my phone and DSL has decided to crap out. So I will be on a blogging hiatus. The lovely folks at Embarq gave me a service appointment time of today thru Tuesday at 7pm. Awesome, thanks for the help Embarq guys.... yeah right....

I am useless without the Internet!

Fireworks, Oh My !

Happy 4th of July!

Today is the day we need to celebrate our freedom and Thank God for the blessings we receive from being able to worship freely and openly.

Check out my super cool pics... FYI it took me forever to figure out how to put them in here right

Oh man.... school is drama central lately. I am beginning to realize that Summer sessions for graduate students is just not a good idea. There is too much expected from us and not enough time to properly make necessary changes or seek proper guidance.

But on another note, I survived my trip driving to the medical center. The med center was the easy part, driving down Westeimer on the other hand was an adventure. That road is crazy scary! I got to see parts of Houston that I never see and I even got to go on the main campus at U of H for the first time. I was really pretty impressed with the campus

And the best part of the day was getting to eat at Chuy's!! I love me some Chuy's!!!!!

Also on a positive note I wanted to wear my new brown shirt today and when I was in my closet I saw my pink plaidish Ann Taylor skirt. I grabbed it on a whim thinking that there was NO way it was going to fit. But I slipped it on and it zipped right up!! I was so excited! So excited in fact that I took a picture of me wearing it! :) The pictures turned out really crappy because it was my first attempt at taking a pic of myself in the mirror. I turned off my flash so the pics came out dark.

Me 40 lbs. thinner (weight loss started Jan'08. Please ignore the hanging dirty towels)

Me and Amber at Texas Children's Hospital (The valet guy might have been a worse photographer than me)

Another one of my photography attempts with standing on the toilet and posing in a mirror... yep I'm cool. :)

I keep having to remind myself that I am a grown up and that I have been driving for 10 years now. But I will be honest, I have to drive to the medical center tomorrow and I am TERRIFIED!

I hate driving in Houston!!!!!!!!

Plus it is super easy to get lost in the medical center, that is making me more nervous.

So in one afternoon I am facing the following anxieties:

• Driving some where I have never been
• Driving on the freeway
• Driving in Houston
• Parking in parking garages
• Meeting someone I don't know

Yikes, Prayers Please!

How many is too many?

So I was watching Jon & Kate plus 8 and I was thinking to myself that I hope that I don't ever have that many kids. Then that show called Kids By The Dozen came on. I don't want to pass judgement but some of those families with 13 or 14 kids seem so strange. Its like having a ton of kids makes you weird. I know that the families on those Kids By The Dozen shows aren't representative of all extra large families but I think they need to have a "normal" extra large family on there just to show the other side of the issue.

I have been thinking a lot lately about how many kids is the right number to have. I am from a family of 4 (a mom, a dad, and 2 kids) and I think that is perfect. But I think that I am going to go by the rule that I am not going to have any more kids than I can give everything to. I don't want to have kids that are going to have to sacrifice just because there is a lot kids in the family. If I know that it won't be feasible to give more than 1 child everything they need and/or want then I will not have anymore.

I want to be able to give everything to my kids. I want them to be able to have all the things they want, to be able to do whatever activities they want, and for them to know what it is like to have nice things. I want to be able to take them on vacations and have them see the world. I want them to be able to go to college without worrying about loans or having to work. I want to be able to leave them something when I'm gone.

I want them to have it all.

How my mind works

I have talked a lot recently about my insomnia issues. Well last night while I was laying in bed trying to fall asleep, my thoughts were going in circles and taking some weird turns. So then I started making a list of all the random facts I remember from college. Here is a short version of my list:

• Plato's Allegory of the cave
• Hobbes' Theory of Man is that life is "short, brutish, and nasty"
• A Frenchman wrote "Democracy in America"
• Adam Smith and the Invisible Hand
• Plessey vs. Ferguson established the doctrine of "separate but equal"
• Brown vs. The Board of Education called for desegregation
• Brown vs. The Board of Education 2 called for desegregation with "quick and deliberate speed"

One night I going to write down the thought patterns that I go through. It is seriously so random and I never end up anywhere close to where it all starts. I think that means I am really smart or crazy.

My money is on crazy...

KSBJ Sharathon

I just got home from volunteering in the phone room at the local christian radio station. Every year KSBJ has a sharathon to raise money to continue their ministries. I volunteered to answer the phones from 2am to 6am. (I know crazy shift but see post below about my sleeping issues.)

Even at those hours we had people calling in to donate their money to keep the station alive. People were giving all they had to give without even questioning it. It was truly amazing to see the numbers climbing on the total charts and knowing the awesome things God was doing in peoples hearts and knowing that God's work is going to continue to reach millions.

God is good!

http://www.ksbj.org/

Rain Rain Go Away

It was suppose to rain yesterday, but no... it decided to rain today. You want to know why it is raining today......

Because I have to drive 50 miles to school! Yesterday when I didn't have anywhere I had to go, it didn't rain. But of course, it is storming like crazy out there today.

I HATE DRIVING IN THE RAIN!!!!

I am a big baby when it comes to bad weather. I don't want to leave my house when it rains. And for that I blame my mother. :) She use to pick us up early from school if it was bad weather. So I am conditioned to not want to go out in the rain.

(You know I am just kidding Pick, its not really your fault!!)

Topic to discuss amongst yourselves...

Behaviorism:

For or against?

I am unsure how I feel about it. While the benefits of positive rewards cannot be denied, but some argue that the benefits are not long lasting? Technically positive supportive praise falls under the behaviorism umbrella, and I am 100% support of praising both children and adults.

So I guess I well put my one foot in the behaviorism circle but I am leaving that other foot out there so I can change my mind in the right situation.

School makes me tired....

But not tired enough to sleep.

My sleeping has never been normal, but I am starting to feel that it is out of my control. I have tried all the techniques that I have heard of. Relaxation, breathing techniques, medicine, counting, drinking tea, aromatherapy, hot bath, stretching, no TV, white noise... anyway you get the point.

Nothing helps! I take sleeping pills (over-the-counter) every single night. There isn't a night that I can remember when I didn't take something. Friday night through Saturday I was awake. Being awake for days is not okay!

This isn't normal, right?

Lyrics to "All I can say"- David Crowder Band

Lord I'm Tired, So Tired From Walking
And Lord I'm So Alone And Lord The Dark, Is Creeping In Creeping Up To Swallow Me
I Think I'll Stop Rest Here A While
This is All that I Can Say Right Now
And This All That I Can Give
This is All that I Can Say Right Now
And This All That I Can Give
Thats My Every Thing
And Didn't You See Me Cry'n
And Didn't You Hear Me Call Your Name
Wasn't It You I Gave My Heart To I Wish You'd Remember Where You Sat It Down
This is All that I Can Say Right Now
I Know It's Not Much But
And This All That I Can Give
And Thats My Everything
This is All that I Can Say Right Now
I Know It's Not Much But
And This All That I Can Give Yea Thats My Everything
I Didn't Notice You Were Standing Here
I Didn't Know That, That Was You Holding Me
I Didn't Notice You Were Cry'n Too
I Didn't Know That,
That Was You Washing My Feet

I have made a decision tonight.

I am going to buy a sewing machine and I am going to learn how to sew.

I want to do this and really I need to do this.

I am want to be that mother who makes cute tops and smock dresses for her daughter And gosh darn it, my kids are going to always have the best costumes for Halloween and school programs.

I am going to do it and I am going to be AWESOME at it.

Are you kidding me?!

I go to leave for school today but when I opened my garage this is what I found....


What the heck!!! Someone parked their trailer in front of my driveway. Completely blocking me in my garage. After a fruitless search for the trailer's owner, I was still stuck! So I wasn't able to go to school today which is frustrating because I had a ton of stuff to do.

How can people be so selfish to park and detach their trailer in someone else's driveway!!

I wrote a note and taped it to the trailer politely asking them to move it. I purposely put my apartment number on there thinking they would knock on my door and apologize. But nope, they didn't come by and say anything. I wasn't angry and my note was polite but I guess they were too cowardly to step up and say they were sorry for inconveniencing me and causing me to miss my class tonight.

There is some sort of flying bug that has invaded my house. And it is driving my cats crazy. You know what crazy cats do to their mother... drive her crazy! My cats are acting possessed and I have a bug in my house... this is not a good night.

So Summer school has started. It will be tough but so far so good.

My dad and brother are going to Oklahoma to work some insurance claims from a wind/hail storm.

I can only think in bursts right now.

Happy Father's Day!

So I decided to delete the post I had posted earlier. Even though I had said that those were not my words and I had linked where it came from, I did not want it to appear that I was stealing some one else's words, thoughts, and feelings.

Anyone who knows me, knows that I have weird food issues, and that I am usually in favor of plain bland food or strange combinations.

Well tonight I discovered a new combo that was awesome. I was hungry but not hungry enough to cook a meal. So I looked in my pantry and saw a bag of baked Cheetos (100 cal pack) and a 100 cal pack of sour cream and onion chips. Then the genius thought came..... "I bet Cheetos and S & O Chips would be awesome together". Yes folks that's right, I combined the 2 into a fantastically strange bite.

And boy was I pleased with myself. It was quite yummy!

Edit: I am using this food post to say that I was right all along. Yep, TOMATOES ARE OF THE DEVIL! Most of you have mocked my irrational fear of all things tomato related and you rolled your eyes when I made you move the ketchup or pick tomatoes off my plate, but who was right? It was me! Tomatoes are dangerous right now and you can't even get tomatoes at Subway. Seriously people stay away from the scary tomatoes.

I just had a strange but proud thought.

I was in the laundry room starting a new load (its always good to have clean clothes on the first day of school) and then my cat, Chloe, came in to use her facilities (aka- litter box). As I am checking my jean pockets I heard Chloe start peeing. And I thought to myself, "aww that's my big girl going potty",and then I thought that was kind of a disturbing thought.

But after the struggles I have been through with her and her chronic urinary tract infections, and her not eating for months, the act of going pee for such a long time and loud enough that I could hear it is cause for celebration.

I am a proud mama and I know that I am doing the right things to keep her healthy. And I know you are thinking, why the hell am I blogging about this. But like I said, I have been struggling to get her on track and healthy and I am so happy that she is, 1) peeing and 2) peeing in her litter box!

Summer school starts on Monday, and I am really glad! After this summer, I am pretty much done with my class work.

In the Fall I will have 2 (easy) classes and an internship at Early Childhood Intervention- Keep Pace and then......

GRADUATION!!!

I saw the Sex and The City movie today. I thought it was really good but the gratuitous sex scenes were completely unnecessary. I could have done without the nakedness. I hate it when there are sex scenes thrown in just because you have actors willing to do it. I know the movie is called SEX and The City but there is something to be said about leaving things to the imagination.

But overall it was worth the money. Plus popcorn and an Icee is always fun!

So I don't really have anything to say. But I logged on here and I feel like I should say something. I have been housesitting/babysitting and my schedule feels all screwy. I am having fun, but it is just weird kind of being in 2 places. I have to spend time at my house so my cats don't die or revolt against me but I still have to be at the other place too. It is just strange. It has been hard settling into a routine.

I guess that it is it. This is quite possibly the lamest post I have ever written.

Sorry.

I am never want to go to the mall on a Saturday again. And I definitely don't want to go to Holister ever again. All the sudden I feel like I am either too old or not old enough to fit in with the Saturday mall crowds and the shoppers at Holister.

Proper age ranges and groups to shop on Saturdays:

• Teenagers
• Mothers with little kids (also not allowed to shop in Holister)
• Mothers of Teenagers

Wrong age to shop on Saturdays

• Twenty-something Singles
• Twenty-something Marrieds without children

It has been kind of a blah day. I have been just sort of out of it and not wanting to do anything. Boo! So basically I wasted my day and got nothing accomplished. I am house sitting next week as well as becoming the guardian of a 16 year old for the week. It is a surreal experience to think that someones care and well being is up to me. While this teenager is low maintenance and can take care of herself it is weird to know that she still would need my permission to go to the doctor or check out of school. I really do not feel that I am old enough to being making those kind of decisions. I am constantly being reminded that I am an adult, I mean my new teenage child (for the week) called me "Ma'am" today! What! That is wrong on so many levels!

I will have some stories to tell I'm sure about my adventures in parenting this next week.

A special topic for my 100th post: Cystic Fibrosis

Definition:
Cystic fibrosis (also known as CF) is a hereditary disease that affects mainly the exocrine (mucus) glands of the lungs, liver, pancreas, and intestines, causing progressive disability due to multi system failure. Cystic fibrosis is one of the most common life-shortening, childhood-onset inherited diseases. In the United States, 1 in 3900 children is born with CF.

Why I care:
- I lost my uncle to CF.
- I am a carrier for the CF gene.
- My brother is a carrier for the CF gene.
- I know the heartache the family of a CFer goes through.

Why should you care:
- Approximately 30,000 people in the United States have cystic fibrosis. An additional ten million more—or about one in every 31 Americans—are carriers of the defective CF gene, but do not have the disease. The disease is most common in Caucasians, but it can affect all races.
- Currently, there is no cure for cystic fibrosis.
- In 1955, children with CF were not expected to live even to first grade. In 2005, the predicted median age of survival rose to 36.5 years, up from 32 in 2000.
- Today, thanks to continued Foundation-supported research and specialized care, an increasing number of people with cystic fibrosis are living into adulthood and leading healthier lives that include careers, marriage, and families of their own.

Special CF Websites you should visit:

• http://www.cff.org/
• http://cfhusband.blogspot.com/
• http://65lbs.blogspot.com/
• http://www.cysticfibrosis.com/index.cfm

Please pray for Angie and her family. They are struggling right now and they keep facing one tragedy after the other. But through it all their faith remains strong.

Check out Angie's blog here, http://audreycaroline.blogspot.com/

Woes of the single 25 year old sorority girl...

So today has been not so good for me and my single life. In one day I got an invitation to one of my sorority sisters wedding and another one of my sorority sisters announced on Facebook that she is engaged. YIKES! This is killing my psyche!

I am happy for them, honestly I am. These are amazing women who absolutely deserve any piece of happiness that they get. But I can help but wonder, when is it going to be my turn?

Without getting into any details about how or why I got into this slightly depressed pity party mood, I decided that I need to create a list of the blessings in my life that I can revisit when I am getting down and having a "I wish my life were different" night. So here goes:

1. My faith and relationship with my savior Jesus Christ
2. I can worship the Lord freely and openly in whatever way or anywhere I want.
3. I have amazing parents who love me unconditionally and support me in all I do.
4. Wonderful Grandparents who do anything for me and have provided for my life thus far and my life in the future.
5. I had a place to come home to that didn't question my reasons for leaving or coming back.
6. I had the opportunity to go back to school to finish my education.
7. There was an academic advisor who was willing to go to bat for me.
8. I met Amber on my very first day at a new school. She has been my rock and guide post and I am lucky to have her on my new journey.
9. My two best friends didn't let me fall by the wayside when I ran and have remained my constants.
10. Even if we hadn't talked in years and are not as close as we once were I have many friends that I could call if I really needed them.
11. I never have to worry about the necessities of life.
12. I can honestly and faithfully believe that God will provide.
13. In comparison to some, I am relatively healthy.
14. I have discovered I can learn things about others, faith, God, myself, and what I need to do for other people from blogs.
15. There is always another day and when I wake up I can praise God for all that he has given me.

Well that is a working list that I am sure can and will be only added to.

If you ever want to feel good about yourself make friends with a Kindergarten class. I went to visit my field experience class and those kids just made my day. They were so happy to see me and they just kept hugging me. One little girl kept telling me that I was beautiful, wow that brightened my day for sure. I was very lucky to be a part of a great class this semester and my mentor teacher was awesome too. I am really going to miss those kiddos.

But on another note, yesterday I was witness to a very disturbing full blown tantrum by one of those students. This was not a screaming crying typical bratty tantrum; this was a full on violent attack. The way this little boy was screaming and the things he was saying was very disturbing. I cannot imagine what made this little boy become so violent that he threw crayons, paper, and chairs. If you were witness to this scene you would know that he was exhibiting some very adult behaviors and saying very adult phrases. It makes me very sad to think about this child's home life. His home is clearly full of hateful words and actions. I hate to know that when I am a teacher I will have to be witness to destructive families and there will not be anything that I can really do about it.

Not in a chatty mood. Here are some highlights of my day:

• Car got slimed. GROSS! I thought I lived with adults.... boy I was wrong.
• Church--> New preacher--> Undecided
• Apartment management could care less about my slimed car
• Driving to my parent's with a slimed car
• Laying out in the sun in the pool.... pool water too cold
• Yum...Popsicles.
• Sunday TV sucks
• Laundry
• Robbie coming home tomorrow?
• I need a job.
• I'm really glad that I can wear my white linen skirt again

Sorry I am super behind on my posting. But some super Texas size lightening blew out my buildings DSL line so I have been Internet less. So now today I have spent the day alternating between vomiting and waiting for the DSL guy.

I will catch up soon.

Today was a good day.

My Daddy was playing in a charity golf tournament at our country club so me and Pickle took our golf cart to follow his group around for a while. It was fun to see the course and ride around. I hadn't been on the golf course in forever and it was good to be on the course again, even if it was just riding around. Then I sat in the backyard at my parent's house and watched the other groups playing on our hole. I actually love to watch golf so it was fun. Plus it is always entertaining to watch really bad golfers! :) My Dad's team did really well and came in second place. I was very proud of him.

The day made me wish I still played golf. Maybe it is something I will pick up again when I can afford to devote a lot of time to it.

The only bad thing was that I have had a crazy migraine all day. I am about to call it a night so I can sleep off this headache.

Post topic planned for tomorrow: Cystic Fibrosis

Happy Mother's Day Pickle!

I have the greatest Mommy in the whole world. She is the best Pickle and my best friend. I love her lots. I am so glad that I was able to spend the day with her today. This is the first mother's day I have been home in like 6 or 7 years; in college I couldn't come home because of finals and then I was in North Carolina. So my poor mother was without her children for a lot of years on Mother's Day.

So Pick, thanks for all you do and loving me so unconditionally!

P.S.- If you hadn't realized it I call my mom, Pickle.

It is funny how many people stumbled on my blog in search of Locks of Love. Well I hope if they are looking at my site they see how cool it is to chop your hair off for a good cause. :-) Oh and I don't want it to be deceiving because the picture looks weird but those braids are over 10 inches of hair. The picture makes the braids look short, but you have to have 10 inches to donate.

So I was watching qualifying at Darlington today and it made me nostalgic for when I went to the race there. It was the most fun I ever had at a race; Darlington is way better than Talladega and even better than Texas Motor Speedway (but I still think Lowe's Motor Speedway is my favorite, but that is just because I spent so much time there and it feels like home). I think I hold a special place in my heart for Darlington because I sat in the front row and got pelted with tire rubber all night. Doesn't sound like fun, but it was AWESOME. I even left the night with a bruise on my arm from the rubber hitting me. And then on the last lap, Kevin Harvick wrecks right in front of us. Yep, that makes the track worth visiting again.

Moral of this post, I wish I were at Darlington this weekend.

Donate your hair to Locks of Love.

http://www.locksoflove.org/


I Did.

Edit:

Why in the world does my chopped off hair look like a completely different the rest of the hair that is still on my head? Weird, I promise I don't dye my hair. But the picture of the braids proves that I am really a redhead. No one ever believes me that I am a redhead.

I had a post all prepared about how annoying it is at grocery stores when there are those employees who are checking under your cart and telling your checker "Hey she has water under there". It makes me angry, I was totally going to tell them. I am not trying to steal water. But that is all I am going to say about it. My post was bitter and rude. And I don't want to be that kind of person. I want to be positive and happy.

I made cupcakes today and they are so yummy. I had a serious craving so I bought all the fixings at the store. The cupcakes are not going to help me on my diet though. Oh well! :-)

I knew I had to take a statistics class in order to get my Masters degree. To say that I was dreading that class was an under statement. Not only did I have to take stats but I had to take it on the graduate level. YIKES! I started getting bad grades in math in the first grade. So I did not have high hopes for my grade in this class.

Well I decided to get it over with and took stats this semester. And ladies and gentlemen I would just like to say that, I am almost certain that I am going to get an A in that class!! YIPPEEE!!!!

I may not be graduating from law school in a couple weeks like all my other friends from undergrad, but at least I can say I got an A in statistics!

What a night! I was sitting on the couch minding my own business when the fire alarms starting going off. That is the scariest feeling in the whole world. I opened my front door and saw people running around so I figured it was the real deal. I run back in my apartment and I saw the cats running to avoid the noise so I grab my phone and purse and head outside. Turns out thankfully it was a false alarm, but it took the firemen coming back twice to get the alarms off. And as of right now we are back in the building but we have no working fire alarms. So if there is a real fire we have no way of knowing it. But tonight's activities have taught me some things:

1. The fire alarms never go off when I am fully dressed and not in my pajamas
2. If there was a real fire, I would most likely lose my cats which is very upsetting
3. City of Houston fire department (Kingwood- HFD) SUCKS. They were in no hurry to get here and did even have the sirens on. So if it was a real fire then damage would have been heavy
4. My apartment management needs to do something about the gate because the fire truck couldn't get in. That is a problem in my opinion.

On another note, Congratulations to Rick and Jenn for the birth of their beautiful daughter, Peyton Ryann.

I don't think it is fair that on my first days of summer vacation I get sick! I am either having an allergy attack or strep throat. Either way it is way sucko!

So I am done with the school except for my statistics final. I know I am done with school weeks before most other people who are in college but still I feel like this semester is never ending.

I have a list going of fabulously funny things to post about. Here is a preview:

• Open letter to Boeing Corp.
• Proper etiquette at doctor's offices
• What I have learned from Kindergartners
• We were all adults, why all the drama?

Who's excited? Come on, I can be funny. And now that my Dad reads this blog, hopefully someone will laugh.

Remember Daddy, you have to think I'm funny cause you're my Daddy.

This is the longest I have gone without posting anything. But I have a ton going on. After Tuesday I will have more time to catch my breath and actually focus on what is going on in my life, think a thought that doesn't involve project approaches or children's literature or teaching literacy... school is consuming me right now. It will be over soon, Tuesday. Then I have a month before summer school starts.

Hang in there.... I will be back I swear.

Does that guy on the chocolate skittles commercial freak anyone else out?

Seriously he creeps me out.

I tell you what, I was a party animal last night. I went to a neighbor's pool party yesterday and I was out until.... 9 pm! Woo wee, I partied hard! hahaha! :) Well to most people that would seem pretty lame to be home by 9pm, but I stepped out of my box and did something I wouldn't normally do. So you gotta give me some credit.

I didn't go to church today because I found out some more drama about the church vs. pastor controversy (see post below). So I may need to find a different church here soon. I will be doing so searching. If anyone knows a good church in the North Houston/Humble/Kingwood/Huffman/Atascocita area, then let me know. I am pretty open to visit all kinds of churches.

Prayer Requests:
-My dad, who is out of town
-End of semester stress
-My financial situation
-My Grandpa (he has to make it until at least May 1st)
-Bobe (my brother)
-Nate, Tricia, Gwyneth
-All my law school friends who are about to graduate and start working on passing the Bar Exam

Open Letter to Houston Drivers

Dear Houston drivers,

Please remember that when you are exiting a toll booth, do not immediately move to the left lane. We EZ Taggers are coming through that lane at FULL speed, and when you cut us off it makes us angry. You are coming from a complete stop and we are going at least 65 mph. It makes us angry when we have put our brakes on because you cut us off going very slow. The whole point of us having an EZ Tag is so we don't have to slow down. If you have a deep desire to drive in the left lane, then GET AN EZ TAG!

Take that message into consideration or next time I will run into the back of you. And it will be your fault.

Thank you,
Ashley

I have been slacking on my blogging. I am drowning in school work... so anything that anyone asks me for the next couple of weeks my answer will be, "Ask me again after April 29th".

Prayer Requests:
-My Dad is going to be working out of state for the next couple of months and my Mom and I will miss him a lot. Plus keep him safe.... his trouble requires a lot of driving and roof climbing.
-Stress

Earlier I had a few things that I wanted to blog about. But now I got nothing. My brain is empty and I have no idea what I was going to say earlier. Dang it! I should have just wrote was I thinking when I was thinking it.

I have been doing homework most of the day so at least I have an excuse for why my brain is fired. Hopefully I can think of something fantastic and witty to say tomorrow!

So I went to church today with my Dad. We, as a family, have been visiting a baptist church here locally for a while now, but we are not members, just frequent visitors. I have enjoyed this church, but I am still praying about where God is leading me to make my new church home. This particular baptist church is part of one of the largest churches in the Houston area and is pretty prominent in its' reputation. I guess you could call this church "big business" which is one of the reason why I am hesitant to make it my permanent home.

But anyway, back to this Sunday's service. Church started normally, nothing seemed different. However, after the invitation (or altar call) at the end of the service, the preacher steps down from the pulpit where he is joined by his wife. He then states that this was going to be his last Sunday at the church and he was leaving to start a new church somewhere else. The congregation was shocked. Apparently, no one saw it coming.

This is not a church, like I said, that I am even a member of, but I was deeply upset by the pastor's departure. Why would he want to leave one of the biggest and best churches in Houston? I am trying to trust that he is leaving to follow God's will for his life, but I can't help but think that he is leaving just for the hope of bigger and better things. A pastor leaving a church can rock that church to its' core, and some churches never recover. I do not wish bad things on this church, and I hope they take their time and put the right man in as the new pastor of the church.

I will definitely need some prayer time to reconcile this in my head. Or this may just be a sign that God is leading me to another church or that God is leading me to stick with this church through their hard time.

Yikes, any advice?

Yesterday was the first day I didn't post anything in a long time. But I had good reason. I taught my kindergartners in the morning and then I cooked dinner for my mom. Dinner went really well and my mom was "thrilled in her soul" (yes, that is a quote from my wonderful mommy). I didn't know cooking her a dinner would make her so happy, and she kept calling me "a real person". It was like last night she realized all the sudden that I am an adult. Never mind that I am 25 years old and that whole I moved thousands of miles away for 2 years. But whatever, at least my mom knows I am a grown up now. LOL... but anyways, after dinner I got a killer migraine so I went to bed early. It was a busy day but a really good day.

Prayer Requests:

• Tricia and Nate and Family
• My grandpa had surgery today
• School stress

Praises

• My dad got home safely from his trip
• A special night with my mom

I am trying really hard not to freak out and be a stressed out monster for the next 3 weeks but it is getting harder and harder to stay calm. The end of the Spring semester always seems to come with a vengeance. I have about a million things to do and major projects that are not even close to being complete. In my heart I know they will all get done but right now I can't see the light at the end of the tunnel. The best news I can think of right now is that I have about a month off before Summer school starts. So until May 1st, it is homework, projects, research, and paper writing.

Oh and only adding to my stress level, I told my mom I would cook her a "real" dinner tomorrow since my dad is out of town. Whew.... what was I thinking? I don't even know how to cook... I will have to let everyone know how it goes.

Is it a bad sign that I am already annoyed with lesson planning and I haven't started teaching yet?

Yikes... Not good.

Prayer Requests

• My dad is traveling/driving to Waco tomorrow
• My mom's stress level and her caretaker burn out
• My brother's school and health
• I still need a job
• Tricia, Nate, Gwyneth, and that whole family

Praises

• Good day with the family watching NASCAR
• Uncle Phil was on Pops duty this weekend
• Getting school work done
• Still clean house
• Left overs from my mom

Last night I was looking back through my quiet time/prayer journal that I wrote mostly in summer and fall of senior year at Baylor. There were a lot of verses from Psalms in there. I had never given much thought to Psalms before, but the verses were very emotional. The writers really let it all out which is something that I could never do. I see a study of the book of Psalms in my future.

Night ya'll :)

Shell Houston Open

I went with my Dad to the Shell Houston Open PGA golf tournament on Friday despite the nasty cold windy rainy Texas weather (not typical temperature for this time of year but fits in with the craziness that is southeast Texas weather). I had a blast, I love the golf tournament! It helps that a friend of my Dad's has an executive VIP tent so we get free close tournament parking with no need for a shuttle, A/C in the tent, private bathroom (read: no porta-pottys), free food and drinks. :-) Seriously it is a good time and I am lucky to be able to attend. I wish the weather wasn't so bad because I would have liked to stay longer. But it was seriously cold and windy. Plus we had gotten wet on the walk to the tent so we were wet and cold. And that equals sucky golf watching situation. I even drank some coffee to keep warm, and I definitely remembered why I don't drink coffee... YUCK!

But anyways, our tent was on the green of a par 3 hole #16. Awesome Awesome seats to have. I got an up close look at the golf pros as the came to putt. And let me tell you, some of those boys are PRETTY! Seriously attractive players. I am not going to lie, when I came home I googled some of their names to see how old they were and just to gawk at their pictures. After doing some researching, I might just drop out of grad school and become a PGA tour stalker. LOL, ok not really but it would be a way better idea than school!

If you live in the area, check out the tournament next year ;-)

I wasted a hour of my life tonight... Tyra Banks duped me. I don't usually watch Tyra's talk show because frankly she annoys me, but tonight the rerun that was playing on the Oxygen channel caught my attention. It was about weight and how women get caught up in the number. And being that I am on a weight loss journey myself (I weighed yesterday- 28lbs down!) I was intrigued by the topic. At the beginning of the show Tyra said that she was going to reveal her current weight that was printed on her shirt covered with a sticker. Well I fell for it and watch the whole hour of lameness just waiting to see how much the ex-supermodel weighs.... come on... you know you all would want to know too.... but anyways in the last minute of the show she says alright here I go and she rips off the sticker.... and what does the shirt say........ "Screw the Scale".... what?.... are you kidding me! While I agree with the sentiment, it makes me angry that I wasted my hour just to say that I was tricked by Tyra Banks.

So thanks Tyra for getting my hopes all up and then just making me feel stupid in the end! :)

Good Night ya'll.... Keep praying for Tricia and her NEW CF FREE LUNGS!!!

Its, 4:08am (Texas time) April 3, 2008 and Tricia is still in surgery getting her new lungs. Keep praying ya'll.

Her loving husband is still being vigilant in waiting as well as keeping all us readers posted. Check the blog address in the post below if you want to know more about:
how amazing Nate and Tricia are,
Cystic Fibrosis, lung transplant,
preemie babies,
or what it means to be a christian and trusting in God.

Dear Lord, please bring Tricia out of surgery and allow her recover with her new lungs so she can be a healthy mother for her baby. Please give peace and comfort to Nate and the family. And Lord, I pray that all the hundreds of thousands people who are following this story see you in this and if they don't know you, they will be saved by your grace after all learning from and witnessing the miracles 0f this story. In your name I pray.

Just for good measure, http://cfhusband.blogspot.com/

Pray that the new set of available lungs will work for Tricia. Pray for the donor family.

If you want to know more about what I am talking about then check out: http://cfhusband.blogspot.com/

Dear Lord, I pray for peace for both of the families involved.

Today was a long day. I got to school really early to work on a project and then had 2 classes. Yikes, I felt like I was there FOREVER... well I sort of was.

I was talking to my best friend on the way home from school tonight and we were talking about how he is about to graduate from law school. Then I started thinking about how many of my friends are about to be lawyers. I was going to be a lawyer until I was about to graduate and go off to law school and I decided that I didn't want to be a lawyer. But with my classmates impending graduation, it does make me think, how different my life would be right now if I had gone to law school. If I went I would have probably gone to NYC with Robbie and I probably would have hated every second of all that work and stress. Most of my friends were miserable for the last 3 years. I am very glad that I wasn't miserable for 3 years and I don't have hundreds of thousands of dollars in loans, but it does make me sad that I wasted so much of college when I was focused on getting into law school. Everything I did was focused on that goal. I was over involved with my honors college classes, community events, sorority officer stuff, student body organizations, and pre law/honor societies. But what for.... I didn't go anyway. Sometimes I think I should have just gone to law school and then I would be weeks away from being a lawyer like everyone else I knew in college.

But I have faith that law school was not God's plan for me and He has bigger and better things in store for me. And hey, if I ever need a lawyer, I got that covered. I have connections in the Harris County DA's office, Texas Court of Appeals, and who knows where the other ones will end up! :)

Well things didn't work out for the lung transplant so keep praying that new ones come along.

I went and saw that movie 21 today for my Dad's birthday. It is definitely not a movie I would have ever seen on my own but it was really good. It made me want to go to Vegas... not to count cards, but to just go. I love Vegas! I want to go again at some point now that I am over 21, it might be a whole new experience. Anyways, it is worth seeing so go see 21.

Pray Tricia gets her new lungs and pray for the donor's family.

http://cfhusband.blogspot.com/

Dear Lord be with both of these families.

Well I had a house guest last week. Yeah that's all I want to say about that.

I do however want to pat myself on the back for keeping my apartment clean for one whole week!!

Finally I want to tell anyone who lives in the Houston area that you have to go to Ruggles in Rice Village and get some of the most amazing desserts in the entire world. They have a Oreo Cheesecake and Chocolate Creme Brulee Cheesecake that is like an orgasm on a plate. Seriously people, check it out.

My mom doesn't have breast cancer. That is the best news I have heard in a long time. It is certainly an answer to prayer that she is healthy. It is awful not knowing. But we got good news today so we can breathe a little easier now.

Thank you to anyone who was praying for her.

Prayer Request:
-Daddy stays healthy
-Bobe (brother)
-I find a job
- I get financing for summer school
-I decide what to do about my teacher certification
- I get the internship at Early Childhood Intervention

I have been on a diet; I mentioned below that I have lost about 25 lbs so far. But today was an awful food/diet day for me. At lunch my mom and I went to eat Mexican food at a local restaurant, and it was awesome! Usually eating a big meal like that would be enough to get me through the rest of the day without eating anything else. But this afternoon my best friend came into town from Dallas for a business conference in Houston. So when you have a house guest there is pressure to be a good host and entertain them. Well she was starving so we went to Chili's for dinner. So today I had 2 huge meals today and that is the most I have eaten in MONTHS! And boy to I feel like POOP! I am so full and gross. If I didn't have homework and it wasn't so late, I would want to go run around the block to work some of this food off!

The first classes after Spring Break are awful. My classes meet once a week for 3 hours a class period. And both my classes went the full hours tonight. It was the longest 6 hours of my life. I felt like the night was never going to end. Professors need to realize we are out of practice of sitting that long. Geez would it kill you to give us a break! I seriously was beginning to think I was never going to get out of there. And my last class professor had the bright idea to play a movie for the last 30 minutes of class. Are you kidding me! It was like 9:30 pm and people were having to stand against the wall to not fall asleep! If I ever teach in the college setting, I will remember to keep the class after a break short!!

My house is clean, I cannot believe it!! I am seriously the messiest person ever. I know it is terrible to say that but it is the truth. My apartment was messy and filthy and I was totally OK with it. But I am having a house guest this week so it had to be cleaned. Luckily my mommy loves me and came over this morning to help me clean. Now my place looks AWESOME! It is shining!! I had to promise me that I would make a sincere effort to keep it clean. I want to keep it clean, honestly I do. But it is hard to be motivated to clean when the mess doesn't bother me. This idea is completely foreign to my clean freak mother (and I mean "clean freak" in a good way). I need to be a good housekeeper, because like my parents say, "No one will marry you with a messy house"!

"Everyone needs compassion. A love that's never failing. Let mercy fall on me. Everyone needs forgiveness. A kindness of a Savior The hope of nations.
Savior He can move the mountains. My God is Mighty to save. He is Mighty to save. Forever Author of salvation.
He rose and conquered the grave. Jesus conquered the grave.
So take me as You find me All my fears and failures. Fill my life again I give my life to follow Everything I believe in.
Now I surrender. Shine your light and let the whole world see. We're singing for the glory of the risen King...Jesus"- Might to Save, Hillsong United

Church was awesome this morning and the music was awesome too. It definitely hit the spot and it was what I needed. After church we went to my parent's house and had a great lunch. It was nice to be together as a family. My whole extended family lives in the Houston area but still we rarely all see each other. I know we are all busy with our own lives but I wish we were all closer and spent more time together. I shouldn't complain... at least I have a family to be with.

Happy Easter Ya'll!

"Jesus died for all, that those who live should no longer live forthemselves but for him who died for them and was raised again." 2 Corinthians 5:15

Luke 24:46-47
(46) and (Jesus) said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, (47) and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations

Romans 8:11
(11) If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you

Wow a year can change a lot. Last Easter I spent my weekend alone. On Easter Sunday I served with my wonderful 2 year olds at The Cove Church and then went home to eat my Bojangles. I remember I was so sad that I was all alone. All my friends in NC went home to be with their families and its not that they didn't ask me to come along, but anyone who has been an orphan in a state alone knows that it doesn't always help to be an add in at someone else's family functions. I desperately wanted to be with my family. I spent quite a few holidays alone last year. Money issues made it hard to fly home as much as I would have liked. But now this year my Easter weekend if off to a great start. Today I went to lunch and shopping with my dad (oh and FYI I bought a size smaller pants today! woohooo go me! 25lbs down, and still a lot more to go!). I got to help my mom pick out an outfit to wear to church and I loaned her one of my new shirts. And on Sunday, my grandparents, Uncle Mark and Uncle Phil, and my parents and I are going to church at Second Baptist-North. Then that is all followed by lunch at my parents house. I feel so blessed to be able to celebrate with my family.

Matthew 28
After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.
2There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.
5The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6He is not here; he has risen, just as he said."

Warning this post is completely cliche

The Notebook is detrimental to single women. I have been watching this movie tonight and it makes me all weepy and believing that there are fairy tales out there. I truly want a love story like Noah and Allie's that is full of unending romance, love and passion. More importantly I desperately need to believe that a relationship like that can really happen. I have to have faith that it will happen to me. I have told people a thousand times that I am going to be that girl that falls in love at first sight and I will live happily ever after with my romantic loving passionate husband. So please don't tell me that love doesn't happen like it does it The Notebook. I need to believe it.

I leave with some lyrics to my favorite Jonny Diaz song, "Other Guys" (You can get it on iTunes and trust me it is an awesome song for the single ladies)

"So you're looking for a rescue, valiant knight on noble steed Well, did you know that I like horses? Unless that's not quite what you mean. Girl you're looking for a hero and what you're looking for I've got. But if modesty's a turn on. Let me tell you what I'm not. Cause I'm not like those other guys that just hit on you and feed you lines. But may I say you're looking fine tonight? Well, I love my mom and you know I cried when I saw The Notebook seven times but if that is not what you desire, get that out of your mind. Did I tell you you're looking fine tonight?"

I am such a good student. I have been sitting here at my computer writing my classroom environment paper, which by the way isn't due until next Tuesday, but I am having an ethical dilemma. The assignment calls for determining the strengths and weaknesses of the classroom environment as well as use pictures to determine what areas you would change. Well since I am not in my own classroom, I had to take pictures of my field experience room but I feel guilty for criticizing someone else's classroom. Who am I to judge someone else's choices. I know that the mentor teacher will never read my paper but I still feel guilty. So I have to chose between be nice for the sake of my conscious or doing the paper correctly and being a little harsh. It is a silly problem but it is bothering me. Anyone who has ever been in the school of education at a college knows that the field experience requirements are very imposing on the mentor teacher and her classroom. I just feel like I am such a pest when I am there! I need to get over it because I have to go and the teacher agreed to have me observe in there..... still it is just awkward sometimes.

I went through my blog posts a minute ago, and I noticed a distressing theme.

"My life is boring"

I need to quit saying that and do something about it. But I really don't know how to do that.

I am committing myself to make a sincere effort to fixing that.

I am totally sucking at being a good poster. But my life is incredibly boring, no seriously... BORING. I was hoping to get some quality pool float sun time this week, but it is typical Texas weather and it looks like it will be storm central here. So much for a Spring Break tan, well a natural tan... because don't you worry, Darque Tan here I come. Orange is the new tan, right?

So the remaining days of my break will be filled with paper writing, journal writing, and powerpoint presentation... grad school sucks sometimes. See this picture is my crazy homework face... pity me... hahaha... not really.... but too much homework really makes me feel crazy!

Oh boy here I go with my teenage whining again...

Enough... Stop....Go Be Productive....

Ok, that was my pep talk.... I feel better already :)

Prayer Requests:

- My Mom

-I need a part time job

- Bobe

-Daddy

-Pops staying happy

- School issues

-Tricia

-Nate

-Gwyneth

I am not a teenager and I don't want to sound like a whining child, but this week is spring break and I am really bummed that I am not going on some fabulous trip. I had plans to go visit Robbie in New York, but after some unexpected financial events I made the choice to save money and not go. I am an adult now and I need to make good choices. However there is still part of me who wants to whine and have a poor me pity party. I would love to spend next week in the city doing wonderful exciting things. But not I will be sitting here in good ole Texas, spending my days writing papers and cleaning the house. So while next week holds nothing but boredom for me, I need to remember that last year I did not have Spring Break. I need to be grateful for what I got.

Dear Mr. Flu,

Please stay away until Friday. After Friday I have the whole next week off. Just give me 1 more day until you release your attack on me.

Thank you for your consideration,
Ashley

Some of the blogs that I read are "high profile" (I don't know if that is the right word but I don't know what else to call them). These sites have received over a million hits and get hundreds of comments a post, but what drives me nuts with these blogs are that some of the comments are so negative and hateful. Bloggers are just people who put their life out there to share it with who ever wants to read it, but that does not give people the right to criticize them or make judgements. Just because they are putting their feelings and actions out in the public does not mean that they owe us anything. You are choosing to read their life and you have the right to hate them, curse them, talk bad about them, or judge but you do not have the right to comment those feelings to them. Keep it to yourself. I hope the mean negative commenters realize that their hatefulness does no good and it just hurts. I'm sorry but a mean comment is not going to change a person's life; it will just make them feel bad. It will never be ok to me for a person to make another human being feel bad on purpose. On one blog I read, there has been a discussion about choices. But what those commenters are forgetting is that life is all about choices and if you disagree with a person's choice then you have a choice to not read their blog. I mean seriously people if you feel that strongly against what a person is blogging about or how they live their life, GET OFF THEIR BLOG! And lets not forget if you feel that strongly that a person is not living their life right and making poor choices, then you should be praying for them to receive God grace in their life. But if you don't have God's grace in your life, then I will be praying for you.

Alright, I am off my soapbox now. And if someone stumbles on here and disagrees with my post, please be gentle I am very sensitive. :) No seriously, I am. I would probably cry if someone was mean to me. Those "high profile" bloggers are a lot braver than me and they must have the toughest skin to put up with all that. This is my page and I can put whatever I want on here. So keep your judgements to yourself or post about me on your blog. Oh and one more thing. If you still feel the need to be a negative mean commenter on blogs, then you need to have done 2 things. 1. You must have a blog yourself or at least a blogger account 2. Use your name, give a link to your blog or your email so that the one that you were judging will have the opportunity to reply to you.

Thanks for listening.

Now let the cursing of Ashley begin.... although no one really reads this, but I feel better having put it out there.

I have problems sleeping as it is... but I keep stumbling on these awesome blogs that keep me reading for hours. Blogs are only making my mixed up sleeping patterns worse. But I am really learning a lot from them. Stuff that I didn't know that I needed to know. They are truly a blessing.

Good Night Ya'll

OK so this blog is going to jump from when I graduated from Baylor in December of 2004 to now. Lots of things have happened since then. Here is a quick list of what.

• Moved to Mooresville, North Carolina in 2005- Moved back to Texas in August of 2007. I love North Carolina but Texas is my home and where my family is.
• I spent 2 misguided years working at Enterprise Rent-a-Car and now I am following my passion.
• I began working on my Master's degree in Aug of 2007
• I want to be a Pre-K teacher or work for Early Intervention Services here in Kingwood.

I learned a lot from my two years away from home but I am so glad to be back near my family. Right now, I am just trying to concentrate on what God is doing in my life and wait for for what he has in store for me next.

I have recently become a lurker on a lot of blogs, so I have resurrected my old blogger account from college so I am comment on those blogs and not be a scary anon. poster.

These blogs I have been reading are so inspiring, funny, entertaining, and a true testament to living life according to God's will. I am hoping to do the same with my blog. My life is by no means interesting, exciting, or tragic, but I do live my life daily struggling to be a righteous Christian woman.

I hope that if anyone who stumbles onto this blog will read it and see that I am just doing my best and living life with what I got. And if anyone who reads the older parts of this blog, remember that I was in college and young...and pretty ridiculous. Don't judge me by my college posts! :)

Oh and FYI, I am the worst speller. And spell check doesn't always catch my mistakes! And I have added AdSense because I am a full time student living off student loans. Any little bit of extra money that could come my way would be a blessing and keep me out of bankruptcy. If you see something interesting, then click on them, but if you don't then don't click.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Which NASCAR driver are you most compatable with?
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I am feeling nostalgic so here is a list of a few of my favorite college memories:

• Freshman year spent in Collins 5 North and my wonderful roomie, Carey
• Kickboxing class freshman year and all those damn squats we had to do
• "I mean you're pretty"
• Going to Wild Country so much that they knew us by name
• TKE keg parties freshman year when it was still kind of a novelty to be drunk
• Sheena and my trip to San Marcos to visit Krista
• My first semester in ADPi
• Arlington Farms parties sophmore years
• 151-G and the laundry detergerent paint job
• Black Lights
• Bringing home cheesecake after ADPi functions
• Making cookies with a few key ingredience missing
• Cool whip
• Blowing off doing my homework to hang out in 151-G
• Late night trips to Whataburger
• All those weird movies Sam has made me watch
• Race days with Robbie
• Going to endless meeting that I never wanted to go to
• Driving through Cameron Park late at night
• Recruitment
• The Unit in its glory days
• And sooooooooo many more things I cant list them all. I cant believe I have a month left of my college times. That is crazy!! But it has been amazing, Thank you all!

Ok I am going to go cry now, Im sad!

So I have decided that I like making lists, therefore my blogger might become a series of lists about randomness until I am out of my list phase. Thus, a new topic.

The best part of Fall Parties (in no particular order)

1. Three butt ass naked boys that ran down the hallway right when a party was getting out. YAY for streakers!!!
2. The look on the president of Chi Omega's face as the boys ran by
3. The old old old advisor for Chi-O that was really disappointed that she missed the nakedness
4. Standing outside the Chi-O door timing their parties while desperately trying to make faces at my ADPi sisters as they were leading girls out of our party
5. Hanging out with Mel, Shannon, Bekah, and Morgan in the hallway while else was smiling and chatting it up in the room. Rho Chi=best job ever!
6. The excitement that everyone had when they saw me when I snuck in the ADPi room during lunch
7. The big hug Tessica gave me when she saw me both when I snuck in and when I came in when it was all over
8. Breaking the silly no contact rules for us panhell peeps
9. The PNMs that were dancing to our songs as they were leaving our room
10. The fact that ADPi s from all over the state came to help and show their support for Zeta Chi
11. Getting to see Alison and Kelsi again since I haven't seen them in like forever
12. Having a ride in the morning so that I didnt have to attempt to park (Thanks Robbie!)
13. The best part about Fall parties is that they are OVER!!

Seriously though folks, ADPi rocked the house. I am super jazzed about recruitment for my sisters!

FIRSTS
First job: I was a lifeguard the summer after my freshman year of HS
First screen name: Ashley5381 (the numbers were randomnly chosen)
First funeral: A girl at my church died of cancer when I was like 10
First piercing/tattoo: ears when I was really young and I have no tatoos
First credit card: when I went off to Baylor
First Kiss: umm I’m not really sure
First one that mattered: next question please….
First enemy: I don’t think I have ever had an enemy, but if I think of one I will let you know
First big trip: I went to Disney World when I was 4 and I lost my first tooth there so that was cool.
First concert: do concerts at the rodeo count? But the first concert I went to without my parents was Sugar Ray and Everlast
First musician you remember hearing in your house: I have no idea, but it was probably country

LASTS
Last car ride: Last night on the way back from Ninfa’s after Fall Parties
Last kiss: so long ago that I cant even remember
Last library book checked out: Im not sure I have ever checked a book out, I ususally just buy books
Last movie watched: Sandlot on TV today.
Last beverage drunk: Dr. Pepper
Last food consumed: Mac and Cheese
Last phone call: Robbie called to see if I had eaten dinner yet
Last time showered: last nightLast CD played: a mix I have in my car
Last annoyance: Standing outside the Chi Omega door and knocking on it every 10 minutes for 8 hours
Last soda drank: right now...still dr pepper
Last ice cream eaten: I don’t like ice cream so it has been a while
Last time scolded: my Dad was pissed at me on Friday because I am not picking the dogs up from the boarding place
Last shirt worn: I am wearing a white shirt right now, does that count?
Last website visited: NASCAR to see the race pictures

NOW
Single or Taken: very single
Sex: femaleBirthday: October 8, 1982
Sign: Libra
Siblings: one older brother
Hair color: umm I don’t know, reddish brown blonde
Eye color: green
Shoe size: 8, but I think my feet are shrinking

RIGHT NOW, WHAT ARE YOU
Wearing: red sweatpants and a white shirt
Drinking: yet again...some dr. pepper
Thinking about: why in the hell I am actually filling this out
Listening to: something about the Bachelor show on the E! channel

Things that made me happy today

1. Left over pizza and breadsticks
2. Getting to wear my Steve Madden shoes to PAD
3. Finding out that Mel is the new Alpha Chi president. (YAY MEL!!!)
4. Bush's Ice tea
5. Going to Casa Ole with K-Rad and the Little One and Pepe
6. Yum my pepe
7. Tess spitting beer out cause she was laughing so hard
8. Having the giggles so much that everyone at the Casa thought we were drunk.
9. Bud Light out of the bottle
10. Dustin being the funniest waiter ever!
11. Pineapple juice and Parrot Bay and the company of my girls
12. Janae doing her Katie impression
13. Talking to my Unit and getting to see her on Friday
14. Romeo and Juliet being on TV
15. Straightening my hair

Things that made me mad/sad today

1. Waking up with a migraine
2. Stupid guy who talked too long at PAD
3. That Trey guy coming and trying to sell his services AGAIN at PAD
4. The margarita machine being broken at the Casa
5. For Paul and Tim being weird AGAIN
6. The bitchy lady that was mean to Tess
7. Stupid TSTC boys that make my sisters sad.
8. Bryce and Clint making Kaylea sad.
9. Stupid pop ads that I now get ALL the time.
10. And I am still bitter about my lack of wireless internet.

So i feel like I should post something just to keep this stupid journal going. But honestly my life is pretty lame right now, so why should I bore you guys with all my lameness. Plus those people that actually read this already know whats going on in my life. But let me fill you in on a few things. Benjamin came over tonight to fix mine and my roomies computers, but that is after they kidnapped him and made him come over. Good job girls! He was able to get pretty much everything squared away except that my wireless card kicks everyone off the internet so I am going back to the old school and using an ethernet cord. So those of you who were at the apartment way back when, the duct tape down the hall is back. It is so ghetto, but my roommate Janae says that we just need to name the cord and then it will be cool. I should not be complaining internet with a cord is better than none at all. Plus it is super fast now that I am not stealing the wireless network from our neighbors. I guess thats all I have to say, so I will leave with the statement: Benjamin is my computer genius hero!!

i want to be loved... i want someone to take me by the hand and lead me when i can't see where i'm going... i want someone to cuddle with me when it's cold outside.. i want someone to think of me before they go to sleep each night... i want someone i can call when i get home just to tell them about my day... i want someone to make me smile-to make me laugh... i want someone to tell me everything will be alright when i'm stressed out... i want someone to know me-to know all of my idiosyncrasies: how i like my cheeseburgers, where things go in my room, and how i like my coffee... i want someone to look at me with his gorgeous eyes and make all my insecurities melt away... i want someone to leave me random notes telling me how much he loves me... i want someone to buy presents for-someone to spoil... i want someone to make me feel weak in the knees; i want him to give me butterflies... i want someone to challenge my beliefs; i want him to make me realize that i'm not always right... i want someone to play with my hair until i fall asleep in his arms... i want someone to go to football games with and kiss when we get a touchdown... i want someone to realize my inner beauty... i want someone to protect me when i'm scared, to love me when i'm me, and to lend me his jacket when i'm cold... i want someone to tell me i'm beautiful, and i want him to mean it... i want someone to understand me... i want someone to challenge me intellectually... i want someone to know everything about me; i want him to share everything about him with me... i want someone to love, and i want him to love me...

(I found this on a friend's journal, so I stole it. And she didnt write it and I dont know who did, but I think it is fabulous)

I think to be truly happy with someone, all these things must be present. Its like it is a reciepe for a happy relationship, if one of these things is missing then it wont be good.

Shoes, I like shoes. I spent the morning shoe shopping with Sheena and it was good times. I really like shoes and I really like buying shoes. But this morning I did not buy anything. I am so very proud of myself. I saw a whole bunch of stuff that I wanted, but I resisted. Well thats all I had to say, I love shoes!!

Ok I have a funny story... Well atleast I think it is funny. So its Thursday night Robbie, myself, and my roomie Janae are just chilling at my house, and all of the sudden out of the kitchen appears a big cricket. I of course am freaking out, me and bugs not friends, but my roommate the hero quickly steps in and kills our friend the cricket with Robbie's shoe. However when she crushes the nasty little creature it makes the worst skin crawling sound. I have never heard a sound like that at the death of a bug. Janae with that sound made the most horrible face and I thought maybe she was going to throw up on our kitchen floor. It was seriously funny watching this scene, Robbie and I were cracking up. Janae cleaned up the mess and handed Robbie his shoe back, and I thought that would be the end of the story. But no, there was a cricket leg stuck on the shoe that would come into play later in the night. I will not bore you anymore with my story but lets just say the night ended with people getting frebreezed to rid them of cricket juice and me and my roommates standing on top of the couch.

Oh and then I found five dollars!!

Ummm....yeah....so this blogger thing....I don't know why I am having such a hard time figuring out what to write in this thing. I am a busy girl, I should have lots of things to say. But nope I don't. So lets see, what can I say... Lets talk about graduation. It is getting dangerously close, and I am scared out of my mind. I am trying to be calm and trust that it will all work out, but that is really hard to do considering my life plans are all in disarray. I believe with all my heart that God has a plan for me so I know that everything is going to work out, but I am just having a hard patiently waiting for this plan to be revealed. I guess that's why they say that patience is a virtue.

I have been sitting in front of this blank blog screen for a while now, and I got nothing to say. I am trying to be diligent about my posting, but I am finding it hard to find material. So I am going to not ramble anymore and end this. Hopefully I will think of something better to say for the next time. Until then...